Read these 12 Secret Blog Post Hacks To Skyrocket Your Readership

There are two main things that make bloggers happy: engaged readers AND revenue from their blog.

But with the growing popularity of content marketing, there’s been a huge surge of content from various industries lately. You may find it more challenging to gain new audiences for your works as you need to compete with new players in the field. Thus, your top blog posts may not be receiving as much traffic as they used to. Not only can this feel frustrating, but it may also hamper your earnings as a blogger.

But there’s a surefire way to remedy this situation: supercharge your blog posts.

You’ve heard about writing comprehensive content and integrating SEO to attract traffic. But aside from these crucial components, there are other things you can do to make each post drip with exceptional quality. One of the reasons why readers often pick competitor blogs over yours is because you’re missing one or two pieces of information.

Filling in gaps in your content will help you stand out from your rivals, become an authority in your industry, AND leave target audiences needing nothing more.

Blog post hacks to Elevate Them To New Heights

1. Add optimized images.

Although it’s been said time and again, some bloggers still forget to use high-quality HD images that are optimized for maximum performance. Optimizing images mean paying attention to details such as the image filename, alternative text, description, and size. If your photos are optimized, your blog posts would be easier to crawl for search engine bots. Hence, more organic traffic. Optimized images also load faster on digital devices, making readers happy.

Overviews do two beautiful things: one; they notify readers of what to expect in your blog post (we just used one on for this article!); second, you can link them to exact parts of your work to help readers jump to specific sections they like.

This eliminates the problem of scanning through an entire article and becoming frustrated because it didn’t contain the information you were expecting. Linking, on the other hand, is a great way to provide convenience to people who don’t have enough time to read your blog post.

3. Include a video introduction or summary.

There’s no doubt over the popularity of videos when it comes to content. In fact, according to Cisco, 69 percent of consumer Internet traffic by 2017 will be due to videos. If you’re not ready for this revolution, though, you can still take advantage of this trend by including a short video introduction or summary in your blog posts.

Video introductions are created for branding purposes. They are quick productions that simply feature the business name, logo, the owner or founder (optional), and the company slogan. This is great if you want to make a good first impression among new audiences. Video intros normally don’t exceed one minute in length.

Video summaries, on the other hand, are like article previews but in another form.

Unlike article overviews, video summaries can sum up your entire work in just several minutes. This strategy is best utilized for long-form content, as well as to convince viewers to take action.

4. Create a podcast/audio.

According to the Podcast Consumer Report by Edison Research, people are becoming more and more aware of podcasting. In 2015, 35 percent of respondents said they listen to a podcast, with an average of six podcasts listened to in a week.

Creating your own podcast has two main benefits, aside from supercharging your already awesome blog post: one, it’s one of the easiest ways to repurpose your most popular content to reach more audiences; second, it’s a good way of earning a backlink from iTunes or SoundCloud.

Remember to get affordable yet fine quality equipment before recording a podcast. This ensures that you won’t be compromising on the value of the content you give your blog readers.

Who can resist something that’s FREE? Whether it’s a downloadable PDF copy of your blog post OR a printable checklist of your best blogging strategies, your readers would love to get their hands on these goodies. Offering FREE stuff would also help turn new audiences into loyal fans.

But don’t just generate some generic stuff that you offer on every web page. Make it distinct to the topic you’re covering for that blog post. Entrepreneur and Digital Marketer Brian Dean loves using this strategy on his blog posts. This, in turn, has helped him garner plenty of avid readers that frequently engage with his works.

Text content will always be important in content marketing and blogging – but in today’s cutthroat digital landscape, it’s NOT enough. If bloggers want to level-up their game, they need to make sure their blog posts are cleverly integrated with other aspects of the Web, such as social media. Here’s where WordPress plugins, such as SumoMe, come in handy.

Dubbed as one of the best WP plugins for 2016, this nifty tool lets bloggers show pop-ups to grow their email list, customize contact forms, highlight blog post excerpts for quick and easy sharing on social media sites, as well as show where visitors are clicking on their heat map. Make your life – and that of your readers’ – easier by checking out SumoMe today.

7. Include data references.

While emotions play a vital role in acquiring audiences to your blog posts, including relevant data and/or research results in your work will elevate it further. Digital marketing expert Neil Patel for instance, saw an increase in engagement on his articles since he began writing data-driven posts.

Why is that? People love numbers. Yes, some folks will argue that they hate arithmetic and problem-solving, but humans in general have always been sensitive to numerical patterns. So if you want to establish yourself as an authority on certain subjects, or to give your blog post ideas more depth, add well-researched data references to keep readers on their toes.

8. Have an Attention Box.

Details matter. Even tiny things such as bold fonts or typos can be easily detected by your readers. Whether you want to capture more audiences or increase email subscribers, make sure to add details that count. One such feature is the little yellow attention box you see experts like Brian Dean and Neil Patel use for their blog posts.

In one blog entry, Brian Dean shares how this yellow attention box has given him 65 percent more email subscribers than other tactics he has used. Why is that? First is the power of color: yellow has a natural psychological pull on people that tell them to sit up and pay attention. Second, Dean took advantage of “power words” to make his offer within those boxes irresistible (i.e. exclusive, improve, bonus).

9. Strategize your CTA placement.

Again: your blog shouldn’t just make readers happy – it should also make you money. That’s why it’s crucial to understand WHERE your calls to action should be placed within your blog for maximum clicks. Don’t simply subscribe to the notion of “above the fold”. It’s 2016 and times are changing. This strategy may have worked with earlier, simpler websites, but it might NOT be best for you.

Don’t be afraid of doing A/B testing to figure out the best placements for your CTA. Digital marketing expert Neil Patel apparently has placed several CTAs all over his blog posts and it has worked well for him. That’s because he’s using strategic CTA placement along with other tactics such as storytelling, optimized imagery, and long-form guided content. When it comes to conversion, avoid using your gut-feel or following generic standards: use your own rules!

10. Incorporate keywords and keyword variations.

It’s true that keyword stuffing and focusing solely on search terms has been outdated since 2013. However, this doesn’t mean you should do without them entirely. The right balance between keywords and quality is the best way to go for ensuring that your blog posts are both user- and search engine-friendly.

This begins with good keyword research. Use trusted tools such as Semrush or Google’s Keyword Planner to gather the best ideas. Then, pepper them on strategic places within your content. In general, your main keyword should be in your blog post title and sub-headings. Next, sprinkle longer keyword variations throughout your work. Recommended areas are: on the first paragraph, in the content body, and on final paragraph.

11. Insert TL;DR slideshows.

Long-form content is no doubt effective in many ways. It gives you several chances to insert valuable keywords within your blog post; it showcases your expertise on the subject, plus it’s great for social shares. But not every reader has the time to even scan your work. Sometimes, they don’t want to download your free goodies either. How do you deal with these types of audiences?Show you care about their time by summarizing your article into a TL;DR slideshow.

TL;DR, which stands for “too long, didn’t read” has been on the Web for quite a while, but is becoming widely-used by authors to appropriately introduce long compositions. Slideshows make for great TL;DR because readers can view content at their own pace. Plus, you can still insert relevant links (i.e. to your blog post and/or social media profiles). Services like Slideshare, is a good platform to begin crafting your slideshows today.

Think that something as small as an author bio can’t supercharge your blog posts? Think again. Writer and founder of Ride the Pen, Alex Limberg, believe otherwise. In an article for Write to Done, he shares simple tricks to improve your author bio AND thereby gain more readers.

By tweaking your bio to contain three key aspects (who you are, what you do, why should they read your blog) in only a few sentences, you make it easy for both people and search engines to find you. As you don’t want to bore anyone with irrelevant information, make each word count.

Conclusion

A vital tip:NEVER use everything at once!

Pick two or three tricks that would work well with your blog post, based on your chosen topic and target audience. For instance, if you wrote a piece on “101 ways to stay fit during weekdays”, you can supercharge it by incorporating a FREE downloadable guide in an attention box along with a short video summary. Coupled with an optimized bio and valuable keywords, your blog posts are sure to become a hit!

Liked these blog post hacks? Share it with your blogger friends & they would thank you later! You can also submit a guest post here at ShoutMeLoud like me, read the submission guidelines.

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SEO consultant Al Gomez is the man behind SEOExpertPage.com, Dlinkers and UnliDeals. With more than nine years of experience in digital marketing, he enjoys supporting smartpreneurs like himself achieve online success.

Hello… I have been seeing ShoutMeLoud sites commonly and now.. it is my pleasure to express thanks of sharing great tips. It will help bloggers a great deal. Undoubtedly, tips as respects CTA arrangement, Keywords and modules are extremely helpful.

Hi Algomez
This post is really amazing. I have made experiments with my author bio long ago and you know what I got double of results when I improved my Author bio with my own pic.
Readers attract to your blog when they know a real person is on the blog. They dont love dummy blogs much.

Al,
Wonderful suggestions. I completely agree with your observations about how strategic placement of CTAs and Attention boxes can work as game changers for any blogger. Thanks for the inputs, will look forward to your posts out here.

As a startup blogger, this post will help me to grow, i’m going to follow all the step mentioned above. Most important point are Have an Attention Box and Strategize your CTA placement. I will be really focused on it as my blog mostly looks to generate leads.

Hey Bro,
Great points for sure. I use attention box or content upgradations on my blog. I got able to draw 100 subscribers alone through a single blog post. They convert better than any other method of list building. However, it takes much time to create a pdf and attach it to a page or post. I always suggest link them with your most traffic driving posts. It will help you in getting more subscribers.

Hey Algomez,
Those are really powerful tips you provide there. I use heatmaps from crazy eggs and always find that visitors to my website leave before they have even consumed half of the article. It has been a losing battle as most of my CTA are placed towards the end of the articles. I can see how your tips, especially integrating videos will help increase the conversion rate.
I will report back on my progress in another comment.

Definitely, great tips to improve audience engagement. Nowadays, the best way to improve readership is to offer content to the audience according to their needs and preferences. Video content consumption is on the rise, SideShare, podcast, infographics are increasingly gaining popularity. All of these blog post hacks are extremely useful to improve readership and audience engagement. Thanks for sharing.

Image optimization is one of the major components of effective readership. Many of the bloggers don’t follow these important stuff of adding the alternative text and descriptions which plays the biggest role in SEO.

Nice tips you’ve given! This will be helpful for my blog in earning more viewers.
I will try all these tricks for my personal blog and I am sure now I will be able to boost more visitors and increase blog leadership. Thanks for all these tricks. Will share this tricks to all the newbies :)

Beautifully crafted and a very well-compiled list of all the blogging essentials. I would resemble this post as a mini guide to successful blogging. I’ve used the word ‘mini’ just as an adjective because the article is giving so much within a single post.
I would’ve to say that it’s always a rejuvenating experience visiting/reading from the SML.

WOW! Really Nice Post! I personally believe that to maintain the standard of a blog all the hacks mentioned above are important. All points discussed were worth reading and i’ll surely work with them all one by one. Inserting TL;DR slideshows in post was something that was new to me.
Thanks for sharing these actionable hacks.

Hi Algomez,
I thank you for such useful n helpful post to get the readership for our blogs! Am a beginner blogger so need to know these tips to become a successful blogger like you ! Please do update some similar posts .

Thanks for sharing such an useful article about blogging tips. In order to keep your readers engaged on your blog, an author bio must be attractive and informative. We can also use font awesome icons as a bullets in unordered lists for attractive Blogging.

Great Points, Al. Couldn’t agree more with you. I still believe that all these things are a part of the ongoing work it takes to run and maintain a blog. However, the real ( and maybe old-fashioned) way to get things going with readership is to actually publish things that are worthy of “reading”.

Too many people are trying to “just get things published” without any value provided.